HAMMOND, LA. – The Illinois State women's tennis team secured their first win during its three-game road swing with a 4-1 win against Southeastern Louisiana.
The Redbirds took control early by snatching the doubles point from the Lions and never looked back. In the singles matches, Juniors Laura Fitzgerald and Ivon Mihaleva showed tremendous fight at the No. 3 and 5 spots respectively. Fitzgerald came back against Southeastern's Polina Slepstovafor the point 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, while Mihaleva won a tiebreaker against Ximena Yanez 6-4, 7-6. Freshman Elana Jankulovska rounded out the win for the 'Birds taking down Kim Bohlen 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 6 spot.
Redbirds Scoring Breakdown:
Singles competition
1. Putri Insani (SLU) def. Tara Damnjanovic (ILST) 6-1, 6-3
2. Natalia Bravo (ILST) vs. Flory Bierma (SLU) 6-7, 6-4, 0-1 DNF
3. Laura Fitzgerald (ILST) def. Polina Slepstova (SLU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
4. Laura Arciniegas (ILST) vs. Teodora Mitrovic (SLU) 7-5, 4-2 DNF
5. Ivon Mihaleva (ILST) def. Ximena Yanez (SLU) 6-4, 7-6
6. Elena Jankulovska (ILST) def. Kim Bohlen (SLU) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Tara Damnjanovic/ Natalia Bravo (ILST) def. Putri Insani/Ximena Yanez (SLU) 6-3 (5)
2. Flory Bierm /Kim Bohlen (SLU) vs. Laura Fitzgerald/Elena Jankulovska (ILST) 6-5 DNF
3. Laura Arciniegas/Ivon Mihaleva (ILST) def. Polina Slepstova/Katya Cornejo (SLU) 6-4
Thoughts from Coach Maja Kovacek:
"We showed tremendous fight today across the board. We knew it would be tough in our first outdoor match, but we had great composure and played better as the match went on. I couldn't be prouder of this team."
Up Next:
The Redbirds are back on the road for their second match of the week against Nicholls State on Thursday, March 12, at 2 p.m.
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